TTC vice-chair Glenn De Baeremaeker says he and chair Karen Stintz plan to “march forward” with the OneCity plan, despite a negative reception from the province on Friday.

TTC vice-chair Glenn De Baeremaeker says he and chair Karen Stintz plan to “march forward” with the OneCity plan, despite a negative reception from the province on Friday.

“We know it’s going to take some time to convince our provincial partners that we’re serious about putting money on the table,” he said.

“I don’t blame the province for being skeptical today because as of today the city hasn’t contributed any money and our city mayor yells as loud as he can that he will never contribute any money.”

The ambitious plan, unveiled last Wednesday, would see $30 billion worth of upgrades and extensions to the transit system over 30 years, creating 21 lines with six subway and heavy rail expansions.

OneCity met some opposition from Queen’s Park on Friday when Bob Chiarelli, transportation and infrastructure minister rejected several aspects of the plan.

While Stintz agreed the hesitancy from Queen’s Park was not a surprise, she said she didn’t expect Chiarelli’s rejection of her bid to change assessment laws, which would allow the city to capture increased property tax values to fund the project.

“Our proposal simply asked that the (property tax changes) be included in the report that comes back to council in October. What we want to do is bring forward a plan and a proposed funding option but certainly it’s not intended to limit any other options,” she said.

Stintz said the goal of the plan was to set out a proposal for council to consider, but that all of the elements are up for negotiation.

“It’s the beginning of a discussion and most councillors believe the discussion is long overdue.”

Councillors are apparently not alone in that belief. An Angus Reid Public Opinion/Vision Critical poll released Saturday indicated 80 per cent of Torontonians favour the proposed plan. De Baeremaeker said that kind of public support is encouraging.

“I jumped for joy when I saw it because we believe that poll is accurate. Whether you take a subway to work or an SUV to work, you’re frustrated by congestion,” he said.

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